Lovesick Or Something More?
by justaclassicgirl
Summary: NOW COMPLETE! :D Hermione runs away and becomes ill. Harry finds her. But her illness is not exactly what it seems to be... Can you just read it please? My summaries really do suck. Rated T only for language and...suggestive innuendos. ;D
1. Chapter 1: Flashbacks

Hello, world!

This is my first fanfic. I don't really care about flames. Flame all you want! Free speech, ho ho! But I probably won't pay attention to them, so just keep that in mind when you flame. I 3 constructive criticism though, so that's totally fine. PLEASE RATE AND REVIEW PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

_"Go ahead. Go."_

Hermione Granger sighed a deep sigh as she gazed out of the window, a finger twirling her hair, another arm folded over her body. Snowflakes drifted lazily to the ground, in no hurry to fall.

The small house in Godric's Hollow was a perfect fit for the two of them. She didn't think she would regret her decision, but still, the choice she had made was unbelievable. Who'd have known that she would leave Ron, perfect, perfect, Ron, for Harry?

It was unthinkable.

But she truly did love him. The reason she'd left Ron for Harry was not, as most people (thanks to the tabloids) thought, for money or fame. Why, she was extremely famous by herself! And she was nowhere near a gold digger. Why couldn't anyone see that?

Why couldn't _Ron_ see that?

_"Wait, where do you think you _CAN _go? You really think _HE'LL _take you in?"_

Oh no. They were back.

His arm was around her shoulder. He was making it clear that he wanted to snuggle, but little did he know that she was _not _in a snuggling mood.

"_You're worthless."_

"Harry?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Yes, love?"

"You love me, don't you?"

"Of course, Hermione. Why would you ask that?"

"I just…"

She turned away from him, unable to put words to her thoughts.

"You know I love you, Hermione. What is this all about?"

"Do you think I love _you_?" she asked. There was a hint of tears in her voice.

He seemed very taken aback by the question.

"Come on, let's sit," he said, gesturing to the couch.

_"You are a selfish monster."_

They sat on the dark green couch in front of the warm, blazing fireplace. Despite that this part of the house was warm, she shivered. Harry brought her closer and held her in his arms. He felt her body shake as she started to cry.

"Mione, what is it? What's wrong? Why would you ask me something like that?"

She stood up abruptly, pushing him away from her, and stalked a few feet off, where she brushed angrily at the tears that refused to stop.

_"You're nowhere near good enough for him. Hell, you're surely not good enough for me!"_

He was behind her again, a hand placed gently on her shoulder.

"Leave me alone," she whispered.

"No. Hermione, you know very well you can tell me anything. Now come back and sit down, and let's at least discuss it."

"There's nothing to discuss!" she screamed, whipping around to face him. Tears streamed down her bright red face.

_"He will never love you as much as I did. I can't believe how much love I wasted on you."_

"I'm not good enough for you. No one thinks I truly love you, not for the right reasons!"

Her voice cracked on the word "love."

And with that, she promptly stormed out. He heard the front door slam behind her. Harry ran to the front door to see that she'd forgotten her shoes and coat. She was out there wearing only her slippers, sweatpants, and thin long-sleeve. He sighed, put his own coat and shoes on, and grabbed Hermione's coat from the coat-hanger.

_"You are a lost cause for love."_

Hermione ran blindly. The voices filled her head, reaching every corner of her poor abused brain.

Those voices.

Those memories.

Those things he said to her.

_"Get out."_

She tore down the little streets, twisting and turning through shortcuts and alleyways, brushing at the tears that were freezing on her face and wiping away the snowflakes.

_"Get out NOW."_

She wasn't sure where she was going until she stopped suddenly and looked up.

GODRIC'S HOLLOW CEMETERY

This was where Lily and James, Harry's parents, were buried. She unlocked the gate with a simple spell and rushed inside.

_"I said fucking get out! What the hell are you standing there for?!"_

Hermione weaved between the rows of gravestones until she came to the one she was looking for and collapsed on the ground in front of it.

_"Get out of my house, you pathetic mudblood. I never want to see you again. I hope that you will never find love or happiness ever again, because YOU DON'T DESERVE IT!"_

"Oh, Lily, I'm so sorry! I tried my best to be good to him, I truly did! But I'll never be good enough. I don't deserve someone as good as him!"

Hermione curled up into a shivering heap in front of the gravestone as the voices and the playback of the horrible conversation ended.

That was where he found her.

He'd heard everything.

"Oh, Hermione…"

She looked up tearfully. "What do you want?!"

He walked over to her and draped her coat over her shoulders.

"You forgot your coat," he said.

Shivering, she stood up. He put his arm around her.

"Let's get you home," he said, "before you get…"

"Hhh-cheiw!"

"…sick."

Harry sighed. "I knew this was going to happen."

"Oh, Harry, I don't feel well at all. Can we go home now?"

"You're not angry at me anymore?" he questioned.

She sighed a congested sigh. "I never really was. Not at you, anyway. More at myself."

Harry normally would've asked her to elaborate, but he could see that she wasn't up to it. He didn't want to stress her out and make her feel worse than she already was. So he nodded.

"Let's go home."

Halfway there, Hermione felt a wave of dizziness pass over her. She moaned and put a hand to her head.

"Hermione, are you all right?" he asked her, giving her a concerned look.

"N-no…ohhh dear…"

Hermione wobbled. Her legs buckled and she fell.

"Whoa there. Steady now," Harry said as he caught her. "You're in no shape to walk any further."

Hermione didn't protest as he scooped her up bridal style and carried her. She snuggled into his chest and closed her eyes.


	2. Chapter 2: The Rash

Sorry for the obscene shortness of this chapter. Originally the first and second chapters were only one chapter, but I thought it would be good to end the last chapter where I did. But enjoy!

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

Hermione woke up. Where on earth was she? The last thing she remembered was Harry carrying her…it was snowing…

Now she was in a warm bed, covered with a soft quilt. She tried to sit up, but quickly became dizzy. Oh, how her head hurt…Her nose tickled…

"Hhh-chiew!" she sneezed. "Ugh…"

Hermione reached for a tissue and blew her nose. Wait, where did the tissues come from? They weren't here before…

As her breath hitched again, she decided she didn't have time to ponder where they came from. She was just thankful that they were there at all.

The door opened. Harry walked in, levitating a tray with a steaming bowl of soup on it beside him.

"You're up!" he said. He sounded excited. He floated the tray gently down onto the nightstand and sat on the edge of the bed near her. "How are you feeling?"

"Horrible!" she responded. "My head hurts, I feel dizzy, and I can't stop-hhh-hh-"

"Are you alright, love?"

"Hhh-chiew! Ohh…"

Hermione blew her nose loudly.

"Well, I have work to do downstairs. Why don't you eat something, and I'll not be far away if you need me," he said, rising to go.

"No! No, wait! I want to come down with you."

"Hermione, NO. You're staying up here and resting."

"I can rest on the couch downstairs. Please, Harry. I just want to be near you."

He sighed in defeat.

"Fine. But you have to dress warmly. It's colder downstairs, and it's also snowing again."

Hermione looked down at her messy clothes, wet from the snow. She could see her reflection in the mirror over the dresser: disheveled hair, baggy eyes, probably oily face, and a nose as red as Rudolph the Reindeer's.

"I think I'll wash up first," she said. She struggled beneath the heavy layers of blankets. Harry helped her get up and helped her get undressed.

She removed her shirt, and could instantly feel Harry's strong gaze on her back.

"What are you looking at?" she asked, uncomfortable.

"You have a…a rash…on your back," he managed.

"Oh."

She paused for a second before continuing.

"It'll probably go away soon."

He nodded, but he still seemed unsure.

"Go on!" she said stuffily. "I'll be down in a bit."

He looked at her for a while. Finally he nodded and went downstairs.

Now fully stripped, Hermione grabbed a towel and her bathrobe and staggered dizzily to the bathroom. She turned on the shower and waited a bit for the water to warm up. While she did, she examined her back in the mirror.

It was horrendous.

Hermione's back was covered in what looked like an awful ugly mix of acne and chickenpox. Some of the bright red bumps were bleeding, and others were oozing pus. Hermione shuddered at the sight of it.

"But that should wash off in the shower, shouldn't it?" she thought to herself. "Yes, it will," she decided, reassured. The water was warm by now, so she stepped into the shower.

She usually backed up slowly under the water, to ease into it, so the water was just beginning to spray her back lightly when she felt it.

It started as just a small stinging sensation, just enough to bother her terribly. Hermione grimaced and reached for the shampoo, backing up further under the showerhead. Her back hurt more now, and the further she backed up, and the more water that hit her back, the more the pain began to increase.

"What's wrong with me?" she wondered. And then she thrust her back completely under the falling water.

A lot of things happened at once.

The pain was excruciating. She felt as though she was under the Cruciatus curse, which she HAD been under on certain occasions. (*cough* Bellatrix *cough*) She screamed a bloodcurdling scream.

The pain was too much for her to take. Hermione's legs buckled, and she fainted clean away. Her last thought as her eyelashes fluttered was,

"I'm going to die."

Her head hit the tub with a sickening crack, and Hermione was knocked out completely.

A small stream of blood trickled from her head down to the base of her cheek.


	3. Chapter 3: St Mungo's

Hey, just a quick author's note. I got a review from Guest (I know that's not a real person, but they didn't have an account name) saying that they didn't think St. Mungo's has ambulances, a parking lot, or walkie talkies. Now that this was brought to my attention, I'm changing the walkie-talkies. That was...I don't even know what I was thinking. I was sick when I wrote this (thus the inspiration) and I probably wasn't thinking clearly. But (and I know I never said this, but I was thinking it and just never put it in) I thought that apparation might cause splinching, and that would NOT be good if the person was already injured, and so there would be options if they didn't want to apparate, hence the ambulance and parking lot. So I'm adding that. But thanks for that piece of constructive criticism, Guest (whoever you are). It makes my story even better!

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

There wasn't much that Harry knew how to cook, but he wanted to have food ready for Hermione when she came downstairs. And the one thing he did know how to make was pasta.

It wasn't possible to burn water, was it?

Harry was taking a bottle of tomato sauce out of the fridge when he heard it.

"Aaaiiiieeeek!"

The awful scream was followed by a loud "THUMP" and a sickening "CRACK".

Harry nearly dropped the bottle of tomato sauce.

"Hermione?" he called.

There was no answer.

"HERMIONE!"

Harry took the stairs two at a time and flung open the bathroom door. Nothing could've prepared him for the sight he saw.

There, on the floor of the tub, lay Hermione, unconscious, naked and wet. The shower was still running, washing off the sticky line of blood trickling from a cut on her head.

Water droplets speckled her pale face. Coils of wet brown hair hung limply around it.

"Oh god, oooooohhhh god, oh god."

Harry quickly turned off the water and grabbed her towel, hanging on the nearby bar. He gently lifted up the unconscious Hermione and wrapped her in the towel. Though totally unconscious, she was shivering from the sudden chill. Carrying her, he rushed out of the bathroom, intent on taking her to the hospital at once.

However, just outside of the bathroom, in the master bedroom, he paused. He couldn't bring her to the hospital naked, and besides, it was winter. She'd freeze to death the moment they stepped outside! So he laid her gently on the bed, pulled out some warm clothes from her drawer, and hastily dressed her. Then he wrapped her up in a warm blanket and scooped her up again, and ran to his car. Unfortunately for him, the fireplace wasn't working, so he couldn't floo them to St. Mungo's. He also didn't wnt to apparate, in case she got splinched. That would NOT be pretty. So he concluded that they would have to drive.

Harry placed Hermione gently in the backseat and grabbed the emergency pillow and blanket from the trunk of the car. She always insisted that they keep those there "just in case." Who would've known that she would need them herself?

He nudged the pillow under her head and draped the second blanket over her, then practically leaped into the front seat.

"Next stop, St. Mungo's," he said grimly as his hands tightened around the steering wheel.

* * *

Harry pulled into the parking lot of the famous wizarding hospital. He scooped up Hermione, who was starting to come to and was squirming and mumbling in his arms. Harry ran for the doors and was almost run over by an ambulance. (Ironic much?)

The paramedics inside jumped out and apologized profusely, then apologized even more when they realized that this was none other than Harry Potter himself. But Harry didn't have time for this, and he made this very clear.

"Excuse me, but my girlfriend collapsed in the shower and she's bleeding and I would appreciate it if you could stop with the hopeless starstruckness and GIVE ME A HAND!" he shouted. The shout woke poor Hermione up completely.

"Harry, what…" she murmured softly. Harry found himself gazing into deep chocolate brown eyes. His own began to tear up as he saw her face tighten in pain.

"Shh, love. It'll be over soon."

"You're…crying…"

_So I am,_ he thought to himself. He could feel the wetness on his cheeks. A cool hand reached up and brushed his face, wiping his tears away. "Please…don't cry, Harry…" Hermione whispered.

"I'm sorry."

A touch of a smile danced on her lips.

"Just…don't cry…again…"

He smiled back at her, despite the situation. But when he _remembered_ the situation, and saw her moan in pain again, more tears cascaded down his face. He couldn't stop them.

And then the two paramedics loaded her onto the gurney, taking her out of his arms. They had just had such a beautiful moment that Harry had forgotten what they were doing, and opened his mouth to scream at them. But then he remembered why they were there and what had happened. The image of Hermione, wet, unconscious, and naked, filled his head. The paramedics were going to help Hermione. His Hermione.

"Mr. Potter, I'm going to ask you to follow us please," the female paramedic called over her shoulder, already rushing toward the building with her partner. Harry didn't hesitate. He ran after them.

* * *

The paramedics burst through the doors of St. Mungo's. The woman waved her wand, and a Pug-shaped patronus appeared. "Get Healer Lori," she told it. The pug raced away, and she and the man began pushing the gurney as fast as Olympic runners. Harry had to keep himself at a quick jog to keep up with them. He clutched Hermione's hand the whole time. Her brown eyes were now wide with terror.

"Harry, what happened? Why am I in St. Mungo's?"

"Hermione, I'll explain later. But you're doing really great, love. Just calm down."

Even as he spoke those words, he knew it was pointless to tell her to calm down. Hermione's breathing was fast and shallow. Her face was damp with sweat.

They turned down a corridor and the paramedics went to turn her gurney into an examination room. The man turned to Harry and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Potter, but we have examination to do on your…girlfriend. You need to stay out here. There will be a lot of us inside."

"What…but…I'M HARRY POTTER, GODDAMN IT!"

"Mr. Potter, I'm terribly sorry, but you must wait out here. And with that, the paramedic slammed the door shut in Harry's face.

Harry sat in the chair provided outside of the room and buried his head in his hands.

"Please be ok, Hermione, please be ok…"

* * *

The paramedics came out about half an hour later, but it felt like days to Harry. A few times throughout he heard her scream, and then nothing. It made him very anxious, worried, and most of all, terrified.

Was she going to DIE?

But when they came out, he leaped out of his chair. "Can I see her now?"

The woman smiled. "Yes, you can, but be gentle. We just-"

Harry didn't listen to the rest of the paramedic's speech on how they cured Hermione. He pushed past them into the room, where Hermione lay on the bed. She looked small in the bed. She was wearing a green paper dress and, he noticed, was crying softly.

"Hermione?"

She looked up. Pure joy flashed across her face.

"Harry!"

He rushed to her side. She sat up straighter and threw her arms around his neck.

"Hermione, I thought you were DEAD," he whispered, kissing her softly on her soft pale neck.

"So did I, from what they did to me," she said softly, her voice catching. Harry pulled back, looked at her, and then looked at the paramedics standing outside the door chatting. He flashed them a look of pure hatred, but they didn't seem to see him.

"What did they do, love? Tell me so I can Crucio them."

Hermione giggled through her tears. "Oh, Harry, I thought we discussed this. No torturing!"

"Oh, Hermione, just this once?" he pleaded jokingly, batting his eyelashes.

"Stop it!" she laughed, slapping him playfully on his arm.

"No Crucio?"

"No."

"Not even if what they did was as bad as what Bellatrix did to you? It seemed that way from the screams I heard."

Her face fell, as did a tear from her eye. She turned away.

"That's not funny, Harry."

It was then that Harry realized what he had said.

"Mione, I'm sorry. I went too far."

"Yes, you did," she said, following it with a sob that she tried to hold in with all her might but couldn't.

"Look, it was terrible of me, and I'm awfully sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I know how terrible that was for you, and how much you were traumatized by it. But I care about you a lot, and I would like to know what they did to you that was so awful. Isn't there any way I can make you feel better?"

She was really crying now.

"Oh, Mione, it's all right. It's over now. I'm here. Come now, stop crying. Please tell me what happened."

She shook her head, tears cascading down her face. She reached out shakily towards him with both arms.

"Just…just hold me. Please…"

She couldn't finish for the tears.

Harry nodded solemnly, and wrapped his arms around her. She pressed her face against his chest and cried and cried until there was a sizeable wet spot on his shirt, but even then she still didn't stop. And he didn't care. He didn't care about the shirt; he didn't care about the paramedics. He didn't care about anything or anyone other than his Hermione.


	4. Chapter 4: Diagnosis

Ok. Before you complain, I know it's short, but I've been busy lately and haven't had time to write much. I felt like I hadn't posted in forever, so I just posted what I had. I will probably add more to this and make it a regular chapter length when I have written more.

To everyone who says "How can Ron be so mean?" or is thinking that at this time, i will explain that very soon, in the next two chapters or so.

Here we go then!

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

Sharp black heels click-clacked against the shiny white linoleum floor, attached to feet that were walking briskly.

The flaps of a white coat swished softly against thin, pale legs.

The door swung open, slamming against the wall with a loud BANG.

Healer Julianna A. Lori had arrived.

"Why HELLO there. Am I interrupting something?"

Harry was barely able to hold in a gasp.

Healer Lori was beautiful.

Not as beautiful as Hermione, of course, but so much beauty at once, and so quickly…well, it would be overwhelming for any young man!

She had sleek, raven-black hair that fell in tousled waves around her shoulders, but had two strands pulled back on either side and held in place with bobby pins, sort of like a halo attached to her head. Her ruby read lips contrasted brightly against her pale, milky-white skin. Her slender, curvy body moved effortlessly. Her eyes shone blue but flashed from that to grey and then to gold for a split second. At last, they settled on grey but kept flickering throughout the visit. But Harry felt like he was betraying Hermione for staring, so he didn't look as long as he would've liked.

"Are you Healer Lori?"

"Are you...are you Harry Potter?"

"Yes."

"Yes."

Hermione looked back and forth between the two while they had their odd exchange.

"Oh my goodness, so then I'll bet my bosom that this here is your GIRLFRIEND!" she said, turning to Hermione. "Well. I would think that any young woman would want a piece of the fame and fortune, I suppose. And not to mention these looks!" Healer Lori pinched Harry's cheek.

Another one, thought Hermione. Another one just like Ron.

She tried her hardest not to burst into tears.

"Now let's have a look at you, shall we?" Healer Lori waved her wand, and a laptop appeared in the air. Or at least it looked like one. But it was really more of an iPad with a keyboard.

"What seems to be the trouble?" she asked, sitting in a swivel chair with the laptop thing on her lap.

Harry cleared his throat. "Well, we were outside..." Hermione's eyes begged him not to say anything about why they were there.

"We were having a snowball fight."

Hermione gave him the slightest of nods, so he continued the charade.

"And I guess we were out there for too long, because the day after, she was ill."

"Ah," Healer Lori said, typing furiously into her (**A/N:** you know what, I'm just going to call it a WizPad) WizPad. "Anything else?"

"Well, she has a rash on her back, and...Hermione, why don't you tell this part?"

She sighed and nodded.

"I have this horrid rash on my back. I noticed it first when I was changing for a shower. When I got in, it began to hurt terribly when the water hit it...and I fainted."

"So I brought her here," Harry finished. "Can you help her?"

Healer Lori finished typing the last of Hermione and Harry's account into the WizPad. "Let me see the rash."

Hermione turned around so her back was facing Healer Lori and lifted up the back of her hospital gown.

Healer Lori took a good look at it before saying,

"Just as I suspected. You have Witch's Pox."


	5. Chapter 5: Tests

Hello!

And this is mostly filler and stuff, mixed with foreshadowing, but I thought it deserved its own chapter.

Oh, and you guys should check out my other story: 100 Drabbles of Harry/Hermione. It's for the challenge posted by dancingwithrainbows, and I thought I might try it.

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

"Witch's Pox?" Hermione questioned. "I've heard of Wizard's Pox, but I assumed that it was the same thing…"

"Well, yes and no," Healer Lori said, typing away furiously on the WizPad. (_"What on earth is she typing?" _wondered Harry.) "It has the same symptoms, but Healers give it a different name because the symptoms tend to be more severe in witches when they catch it."

"Oh," said Hermione. She looked at the healer.

"So…can I leave now?"

"Not yet," the healer replied.

Hermione inwardly groaned.

"We still have some tests to do, and then I'll give you your medication. Then you can leave," she said.

"Will they all be as painful as what the paramedics did?"

The healer looked shocked.

"Why? What did they do? They weren't supposed to do _anything_ until I got here! They know that!" she exclaimed with mounting anger and frustration. "I will definitely have a word with them later!"

"But no," she continued, "no, these tests shouldn't be too painful. I _will_ draw some blood, but that'll probably be the worst of it. And there'll be some forms, but that's it really."

"Alright," said Hermione. She waited for a response, but it didn't happen.

An awkward silence filled the room, save for Healer Lori's typing.

Healer Lori looked up. "Oh! Yes. Right. Now, I must take you to one of the private testing rooms."

Hermione didn't like the sound of that.

Healer Lori stood suddenly and made her way over to the blank, inconspicuous-looking wall. She stood there for a moment, then whipped out her wand and tapped it, much like Hagrid did when he took Harry into Diagon Alley for the first time.

And, like Diagon Alley, the wall shuddered and opened, revealing…

A fireplace, with a bucket of Floo powder next to it.

"Come along now, dear. Hurry, hurry," Healer Lori said, gesturing to Hermione.

"Isn't Harry coming?" she questioned, starting to feel nervous.

"No," the healer said bluntly. "I only need you in there."

She walked over and helped a terrified-looking Hermione out of the hospital bed, then walked into the fireplace. Still holding Hermione's arm, she used her free hand to grab some Floo powder.

"Testing Room #21!" Healer Lori screamed. Hermione shot one last horrified glance at Harry before green flames engulfed both of them, and they were gone.

* * *

Healer Lori got right down to business. In about a minute, the needle was in Hermione's arm before she knew what was happening. Equally as fast, the blood draw was completed and Healer Lori moved onto the next test.

There was a urine sample taken, some x-rays, and even a throat swab. Finally, she allowed Hermione to sit down.

The curly-haired woman flopped down onto one of the two chairs sitting off to the side of the testing room. Healer Lori grabbed a clipboard and pulled over a swivel chair.

"Now, Hermione, I have just a few questions to ask you before I get your medicine," she said, writing Hermione's name at the top of the first sheet on the clipboard.

"Ask away," Hermione sighed. She was sick. She was tired. She wanted to go home. And it seemed that the sooner she answered all these questions, she could.

"Are you currently on any medication?"

"No."

"Any potions?"

"No."

"Have you ever had Witch's Pox before?"

"No."

"Do you have a family history of any Magical Ailments?"

"My parents are muggles, so no."

Healer Lori scribbled all the answers down. She came to the bottom of the page and grimaced. "I _really_ don't want to ask you this question. Oh, I _hate_ asking this question…"

"Just do it."

"Alright…" Healer Lori paused a moment more before blurting,

"When was the last time you and Harry…well…did _it_?"

"EXCUSE ME?!" Hermione screeched.

"It's protocol! I have to ask you this question!"

"Show me!"

Healer Lori flipped the clipboard around, and there, in black print, lay the words:

**Last time Patient had Sexual Intercourse:**

And then under it:

**Protection? Circle one. Y N**

Hermione sighed angrily in defeat. "October 31st. Halloween Party. Firewhiskey." She paused. "We were drunk. I don't remember the protection bit of it."

Healer Lori dutifully copied this all down.

"Drunk" she wrote next to it.

"Alright, that's all. You can Floo yourself back, as you can see this room has no doors. I'll be there soon with your medication." She was right. There were no doors in the room, only a fireplace for the Floo network.

So, Hermione stood dizzily, staggered over to the fireplace, and grabbed a handful of powder, and then she was gone.

* * *

Healer Lori had noticed many unusual things in her tests. She wanted to examine them further, but there was no time for that now. She grabbed some bottles of pills from the desk, Hermione's medicine, and then began to feed the information she had gathered into her WizPad. Leaving the blood test, urine samples, and throat swab to register in a machine, she typed as fast as she could. If the results came back as she expected them to, Hermione would need a much different prescription.

* * *

"Here you are," said Healer Lori as she handed Harry 2 green plastic pill bottles. "The one with the blue lid is for sleep and calming, if she feels distress or pain, and the one with the red lid is her prescription for her Witch's Pox."

"Thanks," Harry said. His gaze fell upon Hermione, who upon exiting the fireplace had collapsed on the hospital bed and seemed inclined to stay there for a while. "Erm, could you bring over a wheelchair?"

"But of course! Anything for Mr. Potter!" she said, her flirtatious self brought back to life. She tapped him on the nose, and he flinched. Sure, she might be good-looking, but she was honestly kind of annoying him now.

Healer Lori waved her wand and conjured up a wheelchair. "Well, sorry I can't stay for long, but some silly witch wasn't paying attention to her son, and now I have to remove some extra limbs." She handed him some forms. "Just fill these out and give them to the receptionist. I hope I'll see you again soon," she said rather seductively.

"Just go!" Harry said, quite fed up with her.

She sighed with pleasure. "Oh, I like it when they're _feisty!_" And then, she left.

Harry fumed silently for a few minutes as he filled out the forms. He loaded a dizzy Hermione into the wheelchair and took her home.


	6. Chapter 6: Hermione's Story

I TOLD YOU I WOULDN'T ABANDON IT GUYS! :D

* * *

Holy mother of pearl, this is a long chapter.

It wasn't supposed to be this long!

I guess I got a little carried away...

But I'm happy with it. I think it's good. And it definitely wraps some things up.

Oh, no, the story is far from over. But anyone who reads this chapter all the way through, YOU ARE WONDERFUL TROPICAL FISH.

R&R pwease!

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

Harry lay in bed next to Hermione, whom he had just gotten to sleep. The pills seemed to be working, and although her fever hadn't gone down, it hadn't risen either.

He absentmindedly stroked her sweaty, damp hair to try and keep her asleep. She hadn't wanted to rest, for whatever reason, once he'd brought her home. She'd cried for a long time, and then thrown up in the bathroom. At last, she was calm.

Harry reached for the remote and turned on the TV. He watched 2 episodes of a muggle show, Dr. Who, before Hermione awoke. He was wondering why the Doctor could only regenerate 12 times when she began to cry loudly, wailing loud as a baby.

"Hermione!" he said, shaking her. "Hermione, wake up!"

Her eyes shot open, and she looked around wildly. "Where is he?" she sobbed.

"Where is who?" Harry asked, looking around confusedly.

"Ron!" she screamed. "Where is he?" She threw herself upon Harry. "Hide me from him, please! Please!"

"Hermione, he's not here. I am. Ron is gone. You left him a long time ago. You're safe now," he said, holding her close to him. He could feel her shaking furiously. "He can't hurt you anymore."

"But…you don't know what he did, Harry. You don't know what he did to me," she cried. "And to make it worse, it's all my fault!"

"Sh, sh. Calm down, 'Mione. Why don't you just tell me what happened?"

Hermione took in a shaky breath as she steadied herself, and opened her mouth, ready to tell Harry everything that happened.

**Hermione's Story**

"We were living together, after the Final Battle. We were happy, for a year anyway. Then came the Anniversary of the Battle, and with it came the anniversary of Fred's death."

"I took him out to Diagon Alley, hoping to take his mind off of things. It worked, I guess, because he seemed happy enough, even though I could sense his sadness. He was right to be sad. I just wanted to make him feel a bit better."

"But then, he saw _her._"

"He saw Lavender Brown again, Harry, and she…she was beautiful. She was so much more beautiful than me. Oh, don't you argue with me, I know she was. She always has been."

"His eyes, they lit up when he saw her. She hadn't seen him yet. He was walking over to her, but then I saw Seamus and Dean heading over to the Leaky Cauldron for some drinks. You know how it was fixed up after Voldemort's death. So I pulled him over there, and he forgot about her, for a little while at least. He and the boys seemed to be having loads of fun, so I told him I was going to do some shopping and go home."

"It was such a big mistake, Harry. I don't know why… why I took him into that bar…"

Here, Hermione began to cry again. Harry had to hold her for a few more minutes before she could continue the story.

"I was cleaning the house a little bit when he came home. Harry, he was DRUNK. He was hammered. And he…he wasn't the same. He was angry. So angry…"

"He yelled at me, asking why there wasn't dinner on the table. When I told him that it wasn't even 5:00 yet, he…

he hit me."

Harry squeezed her hand tightly. Oh, how he wanted to punch Ron in the face…

"He couldn't see reason, I don't think. Something was off. I told him I had better things to do than cook for him at this hour, but my confidence was smashed…like my cheek after I said that."

"I cooked for him. What else could I do? I served him. He said it needed more salt, and hit me again. Then he passed out. Too drunk, I guess. I was relieved. But I don't know why I didn't leave right then. Instead, I curled up in my bed, afraid. He came up, and he…"

Hermione cried some more, unable to finish.

"After he had…done what he wanted with me, he fell asleep. The next day, he was fine. A little hung over, but fine. However, he didn't remember anything. And you know how Ron gets when you argue with him, so I didn't tell him what he did. Just in case some of that anger returned."

"The next week, he became depressed again. This time, he went to the bar without telling me, and came home drunk again. I didn't know where he'd gone, so there wasn't any food for him. He hit me worse, saying I should know better, and called me 'woman'. Not Hermione."

"Everything happened like it had the week before. Finally, he was asleep again. I thought to ban him from the bar. Unfortunately, he yelled at me when I suggested this, saying that he was no different after his 'visits,' and he stormed out, no doubt to the bar. This time, I made food right away. He came home, smelled food, didn't hit me, and then hit me when he said it was cold. After he woke from passing out, he used me again. This went on for a long time, and I lived in fear. And also with guilt, as it was me that had begun his alcoholism."

"He didn't visit or write his family anymore. They were worried about him, and owled him a lot. But he forbade me from telling them anything, when he was drunk of course, and would hit me if he saw me with as much as a quill in my hand."

"He took my wand away from me once, when I tried to defend myself. He hid it and locked it up, and then I had no protection. Nothing."

"Harry, my life was hell. Simply bloody hell. I didn't know how long I could hold on, but I did know that there would most likely be a breaking point, assuming I hadn't already snapped in half. I was already broken, and I didn't know if it had come already or not."

"And, as it was, it hadn't come yet. But it did come very soon."

"I was holed up in my room. Ron was gone again, and dinner had just been placed on the table. I was looking out the window, watching the snow. And then I saw him."

"Them, rather."

"Ron was on our doorstep, _snogging_ Lavender Brown."

"Undoubtedly he was drunk, and from the way she walked, so was she. But that didn't change the fact that they were snogging in front of the house he shared with me."

"And I remember my hand going to my mouth. I felt so ill. Lavender looked up, and she saw me in the window. Her mouth formed an O of surprise, and she ran off. I saw him call after her, and then he looked up at the window. I ducked away, hoping he wouldn't see me. The fear I felt, the fear that he would find me staring, was overpowering. And it was then that I knew that I had to leave this house forever."

"I began packing my things. I heard him come in, but he sat down and ate his food. I could hear him eating, the greedy pig. It gave me enough time to gather enough clothes and personal things together to leave. I hid these in the closet, for when he came up. I knew I had to wait until he was sober to leave, or else I might not be able to get away."

"That night, when he was sleeping, I went downstairs and grabbed everything down there I might've cherished. I didn't take any photos of Ron and I. But I did manage to find an old picture of the three of us laughing, in a silver frame, hidden away behind others. It was this picture that told me that…that I had to find you, and I would go with you instead."

"He found me, my fingers running over the picture, tears on the frame and my bruised face."

"And then…he said the most awful things. Terrible things, Harry, about me…and you too."

"I can't…"

Hermione buried her face in her hands. Confessing this was one of the hardest things she'd ever done.

As she composed herself, she told Harry all the things Ron had said to her. The messages that had been swirling in her mind when she ran away, seemingly so long ago. Harry clenched his fists tightly when he heard them.

"He said that I was only going with you for money and fame. He said that you would never love me as much as he did. Imagine that!"

"He also said I wasn't good enough for you, and that I was certainly not good enough for him, and that you would never take in someone like me. He called me a pathetic mudblood. He said that I don't deserve love or happiness ever again."

"He called me a lost cause for love."

"Harry, those are only some of the things he said to me. I don't think that I could tell you all of them…"

"And then, he told me to get out. I told him to let it wait until morning, when I could take my things from the closet. He looked so angry, but I didn't care. I knew I was getting out, and I could stand a few more punches before I was free."

"Is this what being a freed slave feels like? Knowing that all the abuse is finally over?"

"He approached me, and he grabbed a table lamp. But…he didn't know that I'd found my wand, in the bottom drawer of his desk. The key, which he had hidden when he was drunk, was in the drawer right above it."

She almost laughed at Ron's silliness in hiding the wand.

"I used a sleeping spell. I didn't want to hurt him, as terrible as he had been to me."

Harry found Hermione's self-control impressive.

"I also wanted to leave when he was sober. I wanted him to remember me leaving. I wanted him to watch as I walked out of his life forever."

Her voice grew stronger and stronger as she continued.

"I wanted him to watch as the best thing he didn't know he had left him for the rest of his miserable, alcoholic life."

* * *

"I took all the boxes of my things out to the car. I couldn't apparate everything, and since he was drunken 50% of the time, he couldn't drive 50% of the time. Ron slept the whole time. Everything was ready for the next day."

"In the morning, he was awake. I woke up much after him, exhausted from all my plans. He was indeed sober, but it seemed that he'd remembered as much as the fact that I was leaving him. I got ready to go. My coat was on, my things were packed. I even grabbed the table lamp he'd made to hit me with, as it was ironically one of the things I'd first bought when we moved in together, and I liked how it looked."

"I walked right up to him, and told him off. Oh, how I told him off. And he had no power when he wasn't drunk. I don't know why. He just kind of _didn't. _He was powerless to me when he wasn't drunk. He was the Ron I'd fallen in love with."

"I almost stayed when I saw the sadness in his eyes, and knew that it was really all my fault, that I had driven him to alcoholism, that he was the monster that he was. But I knew that eventually, it would resurface. I just couldn't trust him anymore."

"He smiled sadly at me, and handed me the last box, the one of pictures that I had left the night before. I nearly smiled back. Then I saw it."

"Sitting on top of the pile of picture albums and frames and other precious doodads was the silver frame with the picture of the three of us. But it wasn't the same."

"The frame and glass were cracked. Ron had also torn himself out of the image, leaving a huge white spot where he should've been. He'd drawn small hearts around the edge of our faces and written things like 'whore' and 'slut' in them."

"I turned away, holding the box, and walked out. Oh, it felt good. I hadn't been outside in a long time. And even though I was happy to be free, I was crying. I think it was because of the frame. That somehow hurt more than any blows he'd inflicted. It was saying goodbye to the Ron you and I knew, and the one I had loved for most of my young life."

"I was saying goodbye to one of my best friends forever."

Hermione was no longer crying. Her head was held higher. She almost glowed.

"As I pulled away, I saw something in the window, the window from where I had seen him and Lavender together."

"Ron had taped his part of the picture to the window, and was standing next to it."

"I continued to cry, and drove off. I was never going back."

"And I didn't."

"But some part of me is still guilty, Harry. I'm sure I screwed up his life forever when I took him into that bar. I'm sure he will be happy with Lavender…"

Her voice trembled.

"But no one will employ an alcoholic. His Quidditch dreams have been crushed, although he doesn't know it. All because of me."

She trembled again, her whole body. And then, the complete stress of reliving the memories came rushing at her all at once, and she crumpled into Harry's arms.

"Why did this have to happen to me, Harry?" she asked through her tears. "Why couldn't I have been with you from the start? Why was Ron such a jealous _arse_? And worse, why didn't I see him for what he was?"

"Why was I so stupid, Harry?" she wailed.

"Oh, Hermione," he whispered. "It wasn't your fault that HE screwed his life up. It wasn't his fault that he was a complete arsehole. You're not stupid. You're the smartest person I've ever met in my entire life."

"You're smart," he said, "and beautiful, kind, loving… you're perfect, Hermione. That is why I love you."

She gave a small nod. He felt it in his shoulder, where her head was nestled.

"I will never be like him, Hermione, and I will protect you from anyone like him. I promise."

Hermione looked up at him. Sweat (or were those tears?) was dripping down her cheek.

"I feel hot."

Sweat. Definitely sweat.

He laughed. "And what do you expect me to do about it?"

"Nothing. Just thought you should know," she said, smiling now. She leaned back against the headboard of the bed.

"Do you feel better now, love?" he asked gently.

She nodded. "It felt good to finally tell someone."

He put his arm around her shoulders, and she snuggled closer to him.

"Harry?"

"Yes, love?"

"I love you so much right now."

He looked her up and down, this woman in front of him that had been though so much, and although she was sick, she was still so strong. So beautiful.

"I love you too."


	7. Chapter 7: Misdiagnosis

And so here it is: the very thing that motivated me to overcome procrastination. I wrote this in 2 days.

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

Misdiagnosis

It had been 1 month since Hermione's visit to St. Mungo's. The rash had not gone away. Neither had any of her Wizard's Pox symptoms.

Harry and Hermione had grown closer after she revealed the secret about Ron. Their relationship blossomed, especially as Harry cared for her with such gentleness and sympathy. But as Hermione grew sicker, less time was spent on their relationship and more time was spent on figuring out what the hell was wrong with her and how to treat it.

The pills she had been given had worked the first few days, and those days were heaven. Her fever had gone down and the rash had dissipated. But not 2 days later, the fever came back full force and the rash decided it was ready to come back from its little vacation.

Eventually, her body decided that the pills were of no use, and began to send them back the way they'd come. Hermione was now throwing up the pills about 15 minutes after taking her daily dosage. Harry tried every stomach medicine he could think of, and brewed as many potions as he could without blowing the house up, but nothing worked. He still tried to get her to take the pills, but they had no effect, as they never stayed in her stomach for more than a few minutes.

Finally, Harry had had enough.

"Hermione, you have to go back to St. Mungo's."

"No!" she exclaimed from her place on the bed, and then blew her nose loudly.

"Hermione, you've gotten worse than before. You have to get new medication, because clearly_ this,_" he said, gesturing to the almost-empty bottle of useless pills, "is of NO help to you."

At the sight of the pill bottle, she clutched her stomach and groaned.

"A new diagnosis wouldn't hurt either," he commented.

"I will NOT see that hateful doctor again!" she said forcefully.

"Hermione, I don't understand why you won't go. Dr. Lori's not THAT bad…"

Hermione glared at him.

"Ok, she was pretty bad. But the medicine she gave you worked, for a little while anyway. She knows what she's doing. If you want to get better, you have to see her again."

"Oh, I'm not feeling THAT miserable…" Hermione protested weakly.

"You vomit every day. Your fever hasn't even gone down a little bit. You can't shower without help because of your rash…shall I continue?"

She smiled mischievously. "I don't mind you helping me shower…"

He rolled his eyes and sighed. "All jokes aside, Hermione, we are GOING to the doctor tomorrow. Alright?"

She huffed, defeated. "I am not responsible for any harm that comes to her while I am there."

Harry nodded. "I give you full permission to do whatever you want to her. I don't think I can handle her flirting with me for 10 more seconds."

"Neither can I," Hermione said, looking extremely angry.

"Whoa, Hermione. You don't think I was flirting with her, do you?"

She shrugged and turned away angrily.

_What did I say?_ Harry wondered.

"Hermione, I am not attracted to her and I never will be. How could you think I'd love anyone other than you?"

Hermione stayed quiet.

An idea then popped into his head.

"Are you… you know… on your period?"

"NO!" she screeched.

"Then there's no explanation as to why you're being so… _like this!_"

"I don't know, maybe it's just because YOU DON'T LOVE ME ANYMORE!"

Harry was thoroughly confused at this point. (**A/N:** You probably are too. I promise it'll all make sense in the end.)

"Hermione, I never said I didn't love you anymore! Where is this coming from?"

Her eyes welled up with tears.

"I don't…I don't know!" she sobbed.

"What's wrong with me, Harry?" she cried. "I've become a monster!"

"You haven't become a monster, love," he said, felling a little bad about yelling at her. "You're just sick and upset. Take some deep breaths now. We're going to the doctor tomorrow. Everything will be alright."

* * *

"I still can't believe you talked me into this," muttered Hermione.

The pair were sitting in the waiting room of St. Mungo's, filling out forms.

"…Are you currently on any medication?"

"Shouldn't they know that?" she snapped. "That woman put me on them. She should know. She should have a record."

"I'm only asking you what it says here," Harry said, his head bent over the forms. "Medical History?"

"Oh, shut up!" she sighed. "Let me do it."

After a horrendous half hour of Hermione filling out the forms and yelling angrily at the clipboard, causing everyone around her to stare and Harry to sink low in his chair, Healer Lori finally came out. Surprisingly, she looked dead serious. None of that flirtatious attitude was there now.

"I'm glad you came," she said, not a hint of romance left there. "I found something in my previous tests that I wanted to talk to you about."

* * *

There was an air of mystery in examination room 20, or at least there was to Harry and Hermione. They wondered what secret Healer Lori was keeping. Clearly it was big, or else she would've made at least a bit of small talk as she led them to the room. When they arrived, she smiled at them. The smile reassured Hermione, who had been terrified that she might have had a horrible disease, or even cancer. That smile gave her all the hope she would ever need.

"So, Hermione, how have you been doing so far?"

"Oh, simply AWFUL!" And with that, Hermione began to recount the pains of the past month, with Harry jumping in and adding details form his point of view. Healer Lori nodded continuously throughout the tale of horror. (**A/N: **Exaggeration much? :D Hyperbole for the win!)

When Hermione had finished, Healer Lori was beaming from ear to ear. And Hermione felt anger brewing deep in her gut. How dare this woman smile at her pain?

But…something wasn't right.

"Oh, Hermione, that confirms everything my tests have shown!" she practically squealed.

It was then that Healer Lori dropped the bombshell on her.

"Hermione, we have reason to believe that you are currently…

Pregnant!"

* * *

I am so cruel to leave you off like this. :)

But this is all I can manage for now. Things in my life are busy, and I mean like squirrel-on-heroin busy. I will try to update ASAP, but probably won't for another 3 weeks or so. If there is an opportunity, I WILL UPDATE!

Thanks for all the follows, favorites, and reviews. They fill me with warm fuzzies and rainbow delight.

~justaclassicgirl


	8. Chapter 8: Nine Months

So, guys, these next few chapters may not be medically correct. I am not a doctor. I am not in medical school. And I am certainly not pregnant. Please don't get crazy if something doesn't seem right. I'm trying my best! :)

And also, I know I said I wouldn't upload for a while, but the squirrel-on-heroin has sobered up and my life is now only moderately busy. But now that the holidays are coming up, I SERIOUSLY might not upload until after New Year's. Sorry bout that.

New thingamabob: DISCLAIMER! (just realized I should've been doing this from the start.)

I do not, and never will ever, own Harry Potter.

Sad as that is.

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

Nine Months

"I'm…what?" Hermione stammered.

"You're pregnant!" Healer Lori said. "You're going to have a baby!"

Hermione turned to Harry. They were both smiling, and Hermione was also crying. She could see that Harry's eyes were filled with tears, but he wouldn't cry because he wasn't like that.

Her heart had been filled with crazy happiness, so much that she feared it might explode. Both of theirs had. She was going to be a mother! And Harry would be a father. Hermione placed a hand on her stomach. Her baby was in there. Her little girl or boy. She was carrying a life inside her.

"Harry…"

He grinned. "I told you everything would be okay."

* * *

It was soon declared that Healer Lori would be the OB/GYN (**A/N:** obstetrician/gynecologist, for those of you who may not know) during Hermione's pregnancy. Hermione had almost protested, but she could see that Healer Lori was really a good Healer, and it would be a huge help throughout these nine months.

Healer Lori explained that the reason why Hermione had been having mood swings was her hormones, and that her vomiting was caused by "Morning Sickness" and should dissipate fairly soon. The situation for her pregnancy was pretty much perfect. (**A/N: **Fun with Alliteration!) There was only one problem.

Hermione still had Witch's Pox.

And this could potentially pose a health problem for mother and child, as Healer Lori explained.

"When one is pregnant, Hermione, the smallest illness could be dangerous, even deadly, to your child. It doesn't help that you haven't had this sickness before, or else you might be able to fight it off without medications, seeing as your morning sickness will cause you to vomit up all your pills. But, since you haven't, we may have to give you stronger meds. These could cause more discomfort in addition to your general pregnancy discomfort."

"But…will my baby still be safe?" Hermione asked, worried once more.

"It should be, if everything goes well. But if you want to fight it off without medications and spare yourself the living hell this will be, then go ahead. I just want you to know that your child could be harmed if you don't take the medication."

"Excuse me, Healer Lori," Harry interjected, "How dangerous to the baby would it be if Hermione _didn't_ take the medicine?"

"It's tough to say, really. It all depends on how much worse the Witch's Pox gets. If it stays the way it is now, then maybe the baby will be premature, but probably no more than 2 weeks at the most. But if she gets worse…then the baby could be born a lot prematurely. Or suffer a defect, or be born sick or stillborn. Or…"

Hermione's eyes had gone wide. Her hand was covering her mouth. It looked like she was going to be sick.

And then she was.

All over the hospital bed.

"Oh…" she murmured…"Oh my god…Oh my god, I'm so sorry…"

"That's all right," Healer Lori said. "It happens to every pregnant woman."

Harry stood up and put an arm around Hermione, rubbing her back gently. "None of that is going to happen to our child. Not as long as you-"

"I'll take the medicine!" Hermione said shakily. "I'll do anything to protect my baby."

* * *

"Oh my god. Why am I taking this medicine?" Hermione groaned, just before she bent over and retched in the toilet again.

Harry yawned and held her hair back tightly. "You're doing it to protect the baby," he droned, just as he'd done every 3 or 4 hours every day for the past week, since Hermione's medicine had been made even stronger. She had been throwing up even more, and then there were the crazy cravings that came from the pregnancy. No matter how much she threw up, she never ate more than she had now.

Hermione sat back on her heels. "Of course, the baby…Harry, I can't believe I wanted to stop the medicine…I'm a terrible mother! And our baby's not even born yet!" The tears poured out of her eyes faster than they had when she was telling Harry about Ron, and this struck him as a bit ironic, since what she was going through now was as horrible as a happy butterfly compared to what happened with Ron.

But he did understand that she was pregnant, and now her crazy hormones were influencing everything she said. So he didn't take her angry spells very seriously, and did his best to comfort her when she cried, no matter what she cried about.

"Sh, shh. You're not a terrible mother. You're just not feeling very well. You're a _great _mother to be taking this medicine and making yourself feel awful to keep our baby safe and healthy."

Harry bent down and wiped her eyes with a Kleenex. "Better?"

Hermione nodded, placing a hand gently on her stomach. "Harry?"

"Yes?"

"There's a baby in my stomach."

He chuckled at the look of awe on her face. Occasionally this happened after she took her meds. She became a little…loopy. "Yes, there is."

"Harry, we're going to be parents."

He was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion.

"I know," he replied, and then reached over and placed his hand over hers.

"We're going to be parents," he repeated.

Both of their eyes shone bright as diamonds, full of joyful tears.

* * *

How was that? Did I satisfy you after the last cliffie?

If I wanted to, I could totally end this story here and now.

But I won't. Because this story came into my head fully formed, and I intend to put all of it out here, every last detail.

On an entirely different note, I wrote a songfic a long time ago that I want to publish now, but I read something in the fine print of the guidelines that said songfics aren't allowed. I see a lot of them still around when I browse, though, so is it still okay for me to publish mine, if I give credit where credit is due?

If I don't update before the holidays (Or Christmas, what I celebrate) then HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

~justaclassicgirl


	9. Chapter 9: Tragedy

Well, I said after the holidays, and here I am posting 1 day after Christmas. I HONOR MY PROMISES! :)

This was tough to write. Partially because I am not a pregnant woman, or a doctor, and I lack the knowledge medically and physically of what it is like to be pregnant or what is possible when one is pregnant. Also because it was generally a sad thing for me to compose.

You can expect the next installment in a month or so. The story is about 3/4 done.

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

Hermione was 5 months pregnant at this point. She had gotten over her Witch's Pox about 1 month ago, with the help of the medication she'd been put on. It was such a relief to the both of them when she got better. Finally, she was able to enjoy her time as a pregnant woman, or as much as anyone could with the hormones and mood swings that came naturally. Harry enjoyed Hermione much better when she was healthy. Although, she did go on many a shopping spree to get maternity clothes and items for the nursery.

Harry's old nursery was to be redone completely, as the two wanted the sex of the baby to be a surprise, and the nursery was currently leaning towards that of a baby boy. So it was painted a soft yellow on two walls, and a creamy white on the other two. Hermione badgered Harry into letting her paint a little, since he wasn't allowing her to do any of the grunt work. She had to use a long roller, since her stomach often got in the way of painting with a brush.

She did, however, take a small detail brush and paint little blades of grass sprouting up from the baseboard all around the room, and some cute animals prowling around in it. Hermione was a surprisingly good painter, even though she couldn't draw for her life. (**A/N:** A Very Potter Sequel reference! :D )

One day, Hermione set off on another shopping excursion, this time for parenting books. Harry took this opportunity to prepare a surprise for her. Knowing nothing about carpentry or home renovation, he called in some muggle professionals he'd found online to come and build it for him. 2 hours later, the deed was done, and the workers were gone.

Harry was shelving some books Hermione had bought for the nursery in the bookshelf she'd recently bought when he heard the front door open. "Harry?"

He ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time, and took her by the arm. "Close your eyes."

"Harry, what on EARTH is going on? I have to put these bags down…"

Harry took them from her and dropped them to the side. "Come ON!"

She sighed in defeat and allowed him to lead her to the nursery. She heard the door open, and then he said, "Open your eyes!"

Hermione's hands flew to her mouth as she gasped, "Oh my god, HARRY!"

There, right in front of her, was a fabulous window seat. It was jutting out from the side of the house, and was in the shape of about half a hexagon. The cushions were white and striped with pale yellow, and there was a matching curtain that could separate it from the room itself, although right now it was pulled to the side. Drawers were built in underneath it, to store toys, books, clothes, or anything else.

She threw herself upon him, hugging him tightly. "I love it!"

Harry smiled. "I knew you would."

* * *

Later that night, Hermione was relaxing in bed, reading one of her parenting books. Harry was in the bathroom, looking for some Pepto-Bismol for Hermione's upset stomach. He'd always been fascinated by the color of this muggle medicine.

"I got it!" he called triumphantly.

He was met with silence.

"Hermione?"

He poked his head out of the bathroom. "Hermione?"

Her book was off to the side, and she was staring in horror down at the sheets.

She looked up, her eyes showing pure agony. "Harry, I'm bleeding. "

"What?!" he cried, rushing over to her. "Are you alright?"

She placed a hand on her stomach, grimacing. "The baby…"

* * *

The rest of the evening seemed to go in slow motion.

They left the house, Harry supporting Hermione on his shoulder. They got into the car, again because they didn't want to risk apparation and splinching. Harry heard the small sniffles and conjured a box of tissues for her as well as a blanket and draped it over her in the passenger seat. The bleeding could only mean one thing, but how they hoped it wasn't.

Healer Lori was changing out of her scrubs in her office. She had, ironically, just delivered a baby. She jumped as a piece of paper suddenly popped up in front of her, with a vial of blood next to it. "Merlin's beard! They know better than to apparate forms over here!"

"Unless," she said slowly, "it's an emergency…"

She scanned the paper and ran the blood through a machine for the results.

In less than a minute she was dressed, and apparated over to the room Hermione had been placed in.

* * *

Hermione was terrified.

Why was she bleeding?

What had gone wrong?

Healer Lori gulped. No jokes this time. She opened the door.

Harry and Hermione looked up.

"I have god news and bad news," she said.

"Bad news first," Hermione whispered.

"I'm very sorry, Hermione, but you've lost the baby."

* * *

"NO!" she screeched. "OH, PLEASE NO!"

"I'm sorry," Healer Lori said sadly.

"No…no, not my baby…" Hermione sobbed. Harry gripped her hand tightly. A tear slid down his cheek.

Healer Lori felt like she was going to start crying too.

"Don't you want to hear the good news?"

"Nothing is good anymore!" Hermione wailed. But Harry gave Healer Lori a small nod, continuing to stroke Hermione's back.

"Well, um…it was found that you were having twins." (**A/N: **And here is where the medical details start to get fuzzy.)

"I lost TWO?!" Hermione howled, on the point of complete hysteria.

"That's the point. From what we've seen, it looks like you only lost one."

"So…that means…" Harry murmured, hardly able to believe his ears.

Healer Lori nodded. "Hermione is still pregnant."

* * *

Hermione looked up, her face red and tear-streaked. "But I still killed one."

A strange passion overwhelmed Healer Lori. She marched forward and kneeled by Hermione's bedside.

"Look at me," she said harshly.

Hermione met the beautiful healer's stormy grey eyes.

"Listen to me. It wasn't your fault. It was never your fault. Do NOT blame yourself for this." Her voice got louder and sterner. "You still have a baby. You didn't do anything wrong. It was your illness. It weakened you, and the baby as well. That's all it was. Not you. Never you."

"It was MY fault, Hermione. I didn't give you strong enough medicine. I didn't cure you in time. Don't be angry with yourself, Hermione. If anyone, BE ANGRY AT ME!"

Healer Lori's voice broke. She grabbed her wand and apparated quickly out of the room.

* * *

A nurse entered suddenly, allowing little to no time for Harry and Hermione to process what had just happened.

"Do you want to see the baby?" she asked, smiling and brandishing her wand.

"Of course," Harry said. He let go of Hermione and allowed her to lie back on the bed.

With a wave of her wand, the nurse had projected an image of the baby above Hermione's stomach that looked similar to a muggle ultrasound.

"Would you like to know the gender of the baby?" she asked?"

Hermione looked up at Harry, trying to judge what he was thinking. He gave just the slightest nod. She smiled with relief, as she didn't know if he wanted to know at this point as much as she did.

"Yes, yes, we would like to know. Please tell us."

The nurse scrutinized the projection. "Well, you know you were expecting twins."

Hermione nodded.

"You had a boy and a girl."

"Which one…which one is..." Hermione stammered.

"Alive?" Harry finished for her.

The nurse smiled. "The girl."

Hermione began to cry. Harry held her tightly, barely managing to keep himself together as the nurse restated her previous words.

"You're having a little girl."

* * *

Sweet ending for you there.

I am not entirely sure that the whole "1 twin dies, the other survives" is possible, but we are going to assume for the sake of the story that it is. I know that it is possible if there is an operation to remove the surviving twin early, as there's a kid I know who was born that way, but as far as having it stay in the mom's stomach, I don't know. But people, it's FANFICTION! Harry/Hermione doesn't actually happen ANYWAY, so it's not like this is exactly realistic either.

Oh, also, I'm thinking of having this be 1 of 3 stories in a trilogy.

And will SOMEONE, ANYONE get back to me on the whole songfic thing I asked on the previous chapter?

~justaclassicgirl


	10. Chapter 10: Names

Sorry for the long wait everyone! :( But it's here now so YAY

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

Hermione had collapsed onto the bed the moment they got home, physically and emotionally drained from the hospital visit. Harry followed suit a few minutes after.

The next morning came, sun shining through the small cracks in the curtains. Hermione woke up earlier than Harry, at about 7, and sat up in bed, placing a hand gingerly on her stomach. _Hey, baby girl_, she thought to her unborn child. _It's your Mummy. I love you, sweetie. So does Daddy. We can't wait to meet you._

She paused for a moment before continuing. _Don't worry about your brother. He was hurt. He's safe now. He's happy._

A tear fell onto her stomach. As if in response, the baby kicked for the first time.

Hermione gasped.

It was unlike anything she'd felt before.

Harry stirred and woke at the sound of Hermione's gasp. "Mione?" he said sleepily. "Is something wrong?"

She turned to him, grinning widely, and in one quick motion grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach, over her baby bulge.

_C'mon, honey, kick for Daddy, _she thought to the baby.

Instantly, there came a kick, and Harry gasped as well, louder than she had. Hermione smiled, tears running down her cheeks. Tears of sheer happiness.

Harry insisted on making breakfast, but a bit after the moment they'd had with the baby kicking, Hermione's morning sickness decided to make its reappearance. So she decided to settle for some chamomile tea to settle her stomach, and a bit of bread. Harry had some eggs.

Looking up from a mouthful of food, Harry noticed Hermione staring off into space, looking extremely thoughtful. But not sad, so he knew she couldn't be thinking about the miscarriage. Which was good, because he didn't want to discuss it on a morning that had started out so nicely.

"So…what are you thinking about?" he asked her, washing down the eggs with a swig of coffee.

She turned to face him, and smiled. "I think it's time to start thinking about names."

Immediately, he said, "You choose."

She gave him a puzzled look. "But…you're the father too. You're going to have to live with a child with this name for the rest of your life, so you may as well like it as much as I do."

"Oh, but I can't think of any, Hermione! Every night I try to think of at least one that I like, even remotely, but there just isn't one!"

"Not…not even Lily?"

He sighed. "I…it's a beautiful name, and yes, it's my mother's. But…I feel like it's hers, and only hers, as in I just don't think I'm ready to commit it to my child yet."

She nodded. "I understand." But he could tell that she'd really liked that name.

"This…won't be our only child though, will it?"

She shook her head. "I hope not."

"…I might be more ready then."

She looked sad. "What if it's a boy? Then what? I don't know if I want 3 children just to be able to use that name."

"You…don't?"

She sighed exasperatedly. "I don't _know_, Harry! I don't know! That's in the future, and this is now, and this pregnancy has been hard on both of us, not just me. I…I just don't know."

She turned sideways a bit and stared off into space again.

"Mione?"

"Hmm?" she said, not turning back.

"Ella is a nice name."

A smile spread across her face.

They had spent a good 10 minutes name-generating when Hermione buried her head in her hands. "This is HARD!" she groaned.

"I'll say," Harry sighed. "We can't agree on ANYTHING!"

"You didn't like Sophia, Elizabeth, or Charlotte!" she said.

"_You _didn't like Amanda, Danielle, or Grace!" he retorted.

"I can't believe there isn't one name we both like," Hermione muttered. "There must be thousands of names out there."

"Well, I firmly stand by my first choice," Harry said.

"What? You mean 'Ella'? I thought you only said that as a joke, to make me feel better. I didn't think you…meant it as a name choice."

"Well I did," Harry said irritably. "But you mean to tell me that there isn't one single name that calls to _you_ in any way?!"

"Well," Hermione whispered, "There is one, but…"

"But?"

"It…It's Rose."

Harry smiled. "That's a beautiful name."

"But the thing is, it's what Ron and I decided to name our child, when we were thinking about the future one day. I was never pregnant with him, of course, but…you know."

He nodded sympathetically. "But do you like it?"

"I love it," she said quietly. "I was the one who suggested it to him."

"Would you be willing to name our daughter it?"

She paused, her eyes beginning to fill with tears.

He saw this, and said quickly, "No, no, don't cry. We don't have to name her that."

"I want to, Harry. I really, really want to, but I can't!"

He thought for a moment, running through all the names he'd ever heard of or seen written down in his head.

And then he had it.

"Hermione, what about this?" he said, getting very excited.

"What?"

"We'll just combine the two names we love most!"

She gave him a curious look. "Go on…"

"They go together perfectly! We'll name our daughter Rosella!"

She grinned. "Perfect!"

"Now, there's some of the name you loved in it, but you don't need to be reminded of _him _every time you see her, because there's part of the name I wanted in there too."

Hermione stood up, walked over to Harry, and threw her arms around him. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear.

He stroked her hair. "Anything for you, Mione."

It was Hermione who came up with Rosella's middle name. Wanting to continue the sort of Shakespearean name lineage that had started with her, she decided that her middle name should be Juliet. Harry agreed with this wholeheartedly.

Finally, they had a name.

"Rosella Juliet Potter," Harry said. "I love it."

She beamed. "I love it too."

Harry placed a hand on Hermione's stomach and said, "Hi Rosie, it's your daddy."

The baby kicked.

"How does she know?" Hermione wondered. The baby always kicked the moment she or Harry laid but a finger on it, or if not, she would certainly start whenever the person attached to the hand or finger started talking.

"Let's get some things cleared up right now, missy," he said, and his tone made Hermione giggle. "No dating until you're at least 30."

"Oh god, Harry, you're not going to be one of those dads, are you?" she joked.

"Or preferably 80."

"Harry!" she laughed.

"And it's worse since I'm a wizard," he continued in the same joking tone, turning now to speak to Hermione, "because now I have more ways of hurting him if he hurts her." He gestured to his wand. She tried to hide her laughter.

"If anyone hurts you, ever," Harry said, now back to his unborn daughter, "bullies or boyfriend, your good old daddy will take care of them for you."

Hermione had gone from laughing hysterically to nearly crying, with just hearing those words coming from his mouth.

"I will always keep you safe, Rosella," he finished, and kissed Hermione's stomach.

Hermione said, in a quavery voice, "Harry?"

"Yes?" he said, looking up.

"I love you _so_ much."

She was shocked to see the tears in his eyes as he replied, "I love you more," and kissed her on the lips, like he hadn't in a long while.

And she kissed him back.


	11. Chapter 11: Surprise, Surprise

Surprise, Surprise

Ok, Luna's kind of OOC in this chapter, but I thought that Hermione wasn't at a point where she could talk to Ginny or anything because of the whole Ron fiasco, so Luna's acting in a way you might expect Ginny to act.

* * *

A week had passed since Harry and Hermione had decided upon the name of their child, and everything was pretty normal. Hermione lapsed into depression now and again, overwhelmed with guilt at the fact that their son had died. This depression was most present when she noticed her stomach begin to shrink a little bit from the loss of the other baby, and also when a bit of blood would leak out from the miscarriage. But Harry was always there to keep her spirits up.

One fine March day, March 17th to be precise, Harry called up Neville and Luna, and told them of a plan he was forming, a HUGE surprise for Hermione. They were all for it, and promised to help in any way they could.

* * *

"Hermione, I'm going to go get some groceries," Harry called from downstairs, pulling on his jacket.

"I just went out yesterday to do that, though," Hermione called back, confused.

"Well, we haven't any…cucumbers."

"Cucumbers."

"Yes."

There was a long silence.

"Well, you best be off then," she called. "Oh, and Luna's coming over. We're going to do makeovers!"

Harry grinned as he opened the door. "Perfect. I'll see you later, love!"

"Don't be long!" she called.

The door slammed.

* * *

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

"Merlin, Harry! What did you forget this time?" she yelled as she walked downstairs to the front door, one hand supporting her stomach.

She opened the door and gasped in surprise. "Luna! You're early."

She smiled. "I thought you might want to get a head start on the makeover."

"Well, come in then!" Hermione exclaimed.

Luna walked down the entry hall slowly, taking in every aspect of the home. Hermione noticed her change in attitude, and exclaimed, "Why, Luna, you haven't been here before! I forgot!"

"It's just that so much has been happening in the past 2 years," she continued, "I completely forgot to invite you over since I moved in."

"It's very nice," Luna said dreamily. "You should come and see me and Nev's place sometime."

They climbed up the stairs, Hermione breathing heavily. "Goodness, this baby's heavy!"

Luna smiled. "I knew you were pregnant! I knew you weren't just gaining weight."

"I never told you?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't need you to tell me. The nargles told me. And anyway, we haven't talked since you moved in with Ronald."

Hermione paled at mention of his name, but simply said, "I've just been very busy, that's all."

They reached the doorway and entered Harry and Hermione's bedroom.

"Come on, then," Hermione said, all thoughts of Ron thereby banished from her mind. "It's makeover time!"

* * *

Just outside of his house, Harry rushed down the block and around the corner, to where Luna and Neville were waiting in their car, hidden from Hermione's view by bushes and trees. "Let's go!" he said. Luna quickly got out and began walking briskly down the street to their house. Harry got in the car, taking her seat, and Neville began to drive off.

"So, Harry, where are we going?" Neville asked.

"The café where I first brought Hermione after she showed up at my house."

"Ok," Neville said, continuing to drive. "So, how's this gonna play out?"

"I booked the restaurant so it was just us two. And I sent the restaurant all the pictures I have of us together, so they can cover the walls with them. And I'm having them make her favorite, Whipped Hot Chocolate Crème Brulee." (**A/N:** I just had this at a restaurant the other day and it was delicious, so I decided I'd have this be Hermione's favorite dessert too. I also have no idea how to spell Brulee.)

"That sounds nice," Neville said, pulling into the parking lot. "You…have the…"

"Yeah. I've got it."

"Good," Neville said, and then grinned sheepishly. "When I tried to…you know…to Luna, I… well, I forgot it."

Harry burst out laughing. "You went to propose to Luna, and forgot the RING?" _Classic Neville_, he thought.

"Don't laugh," Neville murmured, parking the car.

* * *

"Hermione, I've finished. You can look now!"

Hermione turned around and looked in the mirror. "Oh my…Luna!"

Hermione's curled hair was pulled back into a bun that managed to look carefree and elegant at the same time. Her lips were soft and light pink, with a bit of gloss and shine. There was a bit of blush on her cheeks, giving her face a nice glow, and the light eye shadow and eyeliner brought out her beautiful brown eyes. Nothing too intense, but she still looked very pretty.

"I knew you would like it," Luna said, smiling. "Now, what about we go out for some coffee or something? Baby must be hungry by now."

"But what about your makeover?"

"I'll be fine," Luna said. "But I'm about to die of hunger. Those damn nargles…"

Hermione didn't ask.

"I should probably get dressed," she said. "After all, I am going out in public. And seeing people, as much as I don't really want to." (**A/N:** actual quote from one of my friends. We're so anti-social…)

"Well, come on then, let's pick out your outfit! We can't have you going around town with that glorious makeup but with only sweats on, now can we?"

"Sure we can," Hermione grumbled. "I'm pregnant, if you hadn't noticed. I can wear whatever I want."

But she allowed Luna to rummage through her drawers and closet to find a suitable outfit.

Finally, Luna said, "Put this on."

Hermione stared.

It was her prettiest maternity shirt, a flowy white one with flowers on it. But it didn't look nearly as tacky as it sounded.

The pants were black yoga pants that accentuated her curves, but were not so tight that the baby was squashed.

And Luna had even chosen the perfect shoes: White ballet flats with small black bows.

"Luna, you will never cease to surprise me," Hermione said. "I had no idea you were so into style and makeup; you never seemed to care much for either at Hogwarts!"

"It all comes with growing up, I suppose," Luna replied. "Now, hurry up and get dressed! My stomach can't wait much longer."

* * *

Harry entered the café, exceedingly aware of the box in his coat pocket. It was barely 2 inches by 2 inches, but it seemed so much bigger at that moment.

The café owner was just sweeping up, preparing for Harry's arrival. "Oh, you must be Mr. Potter! And where's the lucky girl?"

"She'll be here any minute," he said excitedly. "Is everything ready?"

"Oh yes," the woman said, "everything's in order." She gestured to the walls with a flourish of her hand. "Just look!"

Harry spun around to look at the large, previously blank wall behind him. It was now no longer blank, but covered in all the photos he'd sent in.

"This is great," he said, smiling. "Now, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Oh, no, sweetheart. You just sit right down and wait for her. I'll just go check on the dessert."

And so, Harry sat, squirming with anticipation. He got more and more impatient as time passed, and his nervousness swelled until it was almost spilling out of his throat.

* * *

Hermione started out the door, a jubilant Luna beside her. Something was way off about how Luna had been acting since she arrived, but Hermione decided not to let it worry her too much. After all, perhaps it was just the nargles, whatever they were.

There was a car waiting for them, Neville at the driver's seat. "You called Neville?" Hermione asked. "You didn't have to do that. I have a car."

"It's alright," Luna said. "He was headed this way anyhow." But in reality, Neville had come straight there after he had dropped Harry off at the café. Neville the Chauffeur, he thought to himself as the girls got in. Has a nice ring to it.

"Where to, ladies?" he asked, as if he didn't already know.

"The café, just a few blocks away. You can't miss it," Hermione said.

"You know," she commented, "Harry took me there on our first…date."

Luna was grinning profusely in the front seat, but her head was facing forward so Hermione wouldn't see.

"Oh did he now?" Neville said, humoring her.

"Yes. In fact, I think he was going to take me here tonight."

Now, the whole front of the car was silent. Hermione rambled on about Harry and how wonderful he was until the car pulled into the parking lot of the café.

"We're here already? That was fast," Hermione remarked as she made to leave the car. "Luna? Aren't you coming?"

"Oh, you go on ahead and grab a table. I just have to talk to Nev really quickly."

Hermione nodded and heaved herself out of the car, and proceeded to waddle to the door of the café.

Once the pair was satisfied that she'd gone inside, they pulled out and drove away, speculating about what would happen.

* * *

Hermione pushed open the door to the Café a la Rue (**A/N:** French makes everything sound fancy, even "Café on the Street." Direct translation) and gasped when she saw a familiar face seated at one of the tables.

"Well, you look beautiful," he said, grinning like a 5 year old.

"Harry, what are you doing here? I thought you went shopping for cucumbers!"

"I decided to surprise you. I thought you and Luna might want to come here."

"Well, you thought right," she said, pulling out the chair to sit. "Speaking of which, where IS Luna?"

"Oh, I'm sure she'll be coming along. But, I did take the liberty of ordering for you."

"That's good. Rosie's hungry," Hermione said, rubbing her stomach where her daughter resided. "What did you order?"

Just then, the owner came out, holding a bowl of Whipped Hot Chocolate Crème Brulee.

"My favorite!" she squealed. "Thank you!" She leaned over the table and kissed him on the cheek, and then began to ravenously devour the chocolately goodness.

"Oh, this is HEAVEN," she moaned.

Harry fidgeted nervously and reached his hand into his coat pocket. He felt his fingers close around the velvet box, and he pulled it out and slipped it into his jeans pocket. Harry looked up just as Hermione wolfed down the last of the dessert and leaned back, smiling blissfully. "That was delicious."

"That was 3 minutes."

She grinned sheepishly. "Eating for two."

"Well, erm…LOOK AT THE WALL!"

"What?"

Harry flushed red. That was the stupidest thing he'd said in years. But Hermione didn't notice, as she had indeed turned to the wall. She gasped.

"Harry, did you do this?"

He nodded.

She stood and walked over to the wall to examine the pictures further.

There were many that were taken at Hogwarts, and a few taken otherwise. There was one of the two of them eating cake at Neville and Luna's wedding at the same table. This was before they got together. Another was of them dancing, where they were she didn't know. And finally, right in the middle, was the torn-out half picture of her and Harry that Ron had defaced.

Only, this time, there were no horrid words written on it, no broken hearts drawn in pen. Just her and Harry, laughing together like they had in simpler times.

A tear ran down her cheek. She turned around to tell Harry how much she loved it…

And there he was, down on one knee, a small velvet box in his hand. A diamond glinted from its depths.

Hermione was speechless. Her mouth dropped open, and she started to cry. Silently, though, not wailing or sobbing. The tears just slipped out of the corners of her eyes and made their way down their face, in no hurry to fall.

"Hermione, I have known you for most of my life. You are my best friend and only love, and I don't know where I would be without you. You believed in me when others did not, you were always there when I needed someone, and, well, you're carrying my child!"

She smiled a bit, but never stopped crying.

"You are my savior. I couldn't imagine my life without you. So, I must ask you…"

"Hermione Jean Granger, will you marry me?"

She nodded furiously, unable to form words, until finally she managed to squeak out,

"Yes! Yes, of course I'll marry you!"

And with that she rushed forward, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him like she never kissed him before.

* * *

I'm a big fan of when I put "in no hurry to fall" in the first chapter, when she had the awful flashbacks, and here, during the happiest moment of her life.

Well, probably aside from her daughter being born.

But that hasn't happened yet, so this'll have to do.

Sorry this took so long to get put up. I have a disease called Challenge-addiction-itis, which I acquired shortly after discovering the magical world of forums, and it really takes a toll on a writer who has a long story and fans waiting for it to be finished.

I'm SORRRRRRRY!

Anyway, you should read those stories too. (Totally not self-promoting here…but it's my story, so I guess I can do that here.)

I hope this shall appease you until I can get the next chapters up. 2 left, I think. And THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL!

YAYSTERS!

~justaclassicgirl


	12. Chapter 12: The Wedding

I had the most fun possible writing this. It may be the fluffiest piece I've ever done, save Beach. Maybe it's the longest...?

I know I haven't updated in a very long time. But LIFE interfered with COMPUTER.

:(

After this, only ONE MORE CHAPTER! *GASP* :O becomes :D

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

Hermione had written to Ginny as soon as she got home. The letter was about 3 feet of parchment long and said everything that had gone unsaid between them in the two years they'd been apart, and explained the whole Ron fiasco. It finally ended telling her that she and Harry were engaged, and that she should come for a visit. But never once did she tell Ginny she was pregnant.

Needless to say, Ginny came over the instant she got Hermione's letter, and what a shock it was for her to see her best friend pregnant. But she soon got over it, in the rush to catch up with her.

* * *

"My brother did WHAT?" Ginny screeched. "And then he WHAT?"

"Gin, calm down! I'm fine." Hermione tried (and failed) to calm down the fiery redhead.

"I AM GOING TO KILL THE LITTLE-"

"Ginny, I felt the same way," Harry said upon entering the living room. "But one thing's for sure: He's not invited to the wedding." He smiled.

"Oh, Ginny, speaking of which, I want you to be the maid of honor at my wedding," Hermione said so casually that Ginny thought she must be joking.

"But…But…We haven't talked in years, and based on these thirty minutes, you want to give that job to me? Why not Luna?"

"Ginny, you don't remember the promise we made? You were a first-year, and we made a pact that if either of us ever got married, we would be each other's maid of honor."

"Yes, I remember, but…Luna's been there for you, while I haven't. She deserves it more than me."

Hermione thought for a moment, then said slowly, "Couldn't I have two?"

"Two maids of honor? Well, I suppose you could. It doesn't say anywhere that you can't…" Ginny said just as slowly.

"I have to speak with Luna about it first, but if she accepts, could this work?"

"Of course," Ginny said, happier now that everything was fair. She sprung out of her chair and ran over to Hermione, throwing her arms around her and hugging her tightly. "You're getting MARRIED!" she shrieked. "You're PREGNANT!"

Now this is the Ginny I know, Hermione thought, hugging her friend back.

* * *

"But...why not?"

"I don't really think I could handle it, Hermione. All the stress disturbs…um, the…nargles?"

Hermione squinted suspiciously at Luna, who seemed to shrink under her scrutinizing look. This wasn't Luna. Something wasn't right…

It didn't take long for Hermione to place it. This was why Luna wasn't acting normally lately. This was why she got giddy at the proposal. This was it.

"Merlin, you're pregnant, aren't you?"

"Shhh!" Luna whispered frantically. "Nev doesn't know!"

Hermione grinned. "How far along?"

"Maybe a month, not very far. But I don't know if I can handle the duties of Maid of Honor. Well, I mean, it's your wedding, so if you need me, I'll do it…"

"Oh, no, Luna! Of course you don't have to do it." Hermione smiled. "I know how you feel. The less stress for you right now, the better."

Luna seemed to deflate with relief.

Hermione knew Ginny would be ecstatic. She hated working with other people.

* * *

Finally, all the clamor was over and it was just her and Harry at the dinner table. Hermione was the first to speak.

"So."

"So."

"We have to plan the wedding."

"Yep."

"We have to choose a date."

"Yep."

"We have to send out invitations."

"Yep."

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Yep."

"My water just broke."

"Yep."

Hermione glared at him. Obviously, she was NOT going into labor. She was testing him.

"HARRY!"

"Huh? What?"

"I SAID, we have to plan the wedding!"

"Right. So. I'll get the cake?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course." ("Hey!" Harry protested indignantly)"But we should pick a date for the wedding first."

"What about June?"

"Harry, my due date is in June."

"Yeah, but Healer Lori said the end of June. We could just have it on June 1st or something like that."

She nodded slowly. "It does give us more time to get everything ready…June 1st it is."

With a date decided, the pair dove headfirst into planning the rest of their big day.

* * *

June 1st arrived sunny and warm, but not sweltering. It was a perfect day to get married.

All the Weasleys had been invited (except Ron, of course), and every one of the remaining Order members. Hermione had insisted that Professor McGonnagal be invited too.

Arthur was giving Hermione away. Teddy Lupin was brought in as the ring bearer, and Victoire as the flower girl. She got a frilly light blue dress to wear and was very happy about that. Teddy was less happy, mostly because of the suit he had to wear.

"Harry, do I HAVE to wear this?" he whined.

Harry was fixing his own suit for the fifteenth time. "Yes, Teddy, but as soon as the wedding's over you can jump in as many mud puddles as you want with the suit on. I'll make sure you don't get into trouble."

His face lit up.

"But only if you do a great job with the rings."

Teddy nodded furiously.

* * *

"Hermione, tilt your head up a bit…good…good…"

Luna was doing Hermione's wedding makeup and hair. Hermione had enlisted her because of the spectacular work she'd done the day of the proposal.

"All right, done!" Luna proclaimed loudly.

Hermione turned around to the mirror to see.

"Luna, it's wonderful!" she beamed. She smoothed the fabric of her dress over her baby bump. It rustled softly, the silk smooth and white as milk.

Ginny twirled in her bridesmaid's dress one last time. The pale blue fabric stayed mostly in place, but her long red hair spun out around her like a halo. "I adore these dresses!" she squealed.

Luna smiled. "I love them too."

Hermione wasn't really paying attention to them. She was staring at herself in a full-length mirror.

Ginny and Luna watched as she turned slowly in a circle, looking over her shoulder to see what she looked like.

Then Ginny shrieked, "Merlin, we're going to be late! The wedding starts in half an hour!"

"Go, go, go!" Luna yelled, grabbing one of Hermione's arms and ushering her quickly out the door to the car.

"You're extremely fast for a pregnant woman," Hermione commented as Luna practically sprinted out the door.

To her daughter, she thought, _We're getting married, Rosie! We're getting married today!_

* * *

Harry stood beside the Minister of Magic, who had promised to officiate the ceremony. "Anything for Mr. Potter," he had said.

He hoped he wasn't sweating all too much. It would be awful if he were soaked with sweat for his wedding.

Neville, the best man, stood beside him. "Any minute now," he said.

And then the music started playing.

* * *

Even though it was an outdoor wedding, there still weren't many bugs flying about. But of course, right when Hermione began walking in, a bee came buzzing about.

"Oh my god, it's a bee!" she hissed nervously at Ginny. "It's a BEE!"

"Gin, you know I'm afraid of bees!" Hermione scream-whispered. "Get it away!"

"Calm down, Hermione," Ginny whispered. "Stop fidgeting. It'll go away by itself."

So, Hermione held her head high, linked her arm in the waiting arm of Mr. Weasley's, and ignored the offending bee as best she could. Finally, the bee veered off and flew away, and as the wedding march played, they began to walk down the aisle.

* * *

Victoire skipped ahead in front of the procession, throwing white and red rose petals in the air with a huge smile on her face. Teddy walked slowly behind her holding the rings, looking much less happy. But because they were so short, Harry saw right over their heads and looked right at Hermione.

Harry saw her for the first time that day.

Hermione's hair was down, falling in luscious waves down her shoulders, loose and glinting in the sun. Her eyes had a bit of dark eye pencil lining just above the place where eyelash met eyelid, with a touch of soft, bronzey eye shadow above it. Her lips were the color of a strawberry milkshake, with a glossy sheen to it. A bit of blush, the smallest touch of blush, was applied to her cheeks, making them look rosy and accentuating her cheekbones. She looked so adult, yet so innocent at the same time. Hermione was beautiful.

(And don't even get me started on her dress.)

The dress was held up by two thin spaghetti-straps. The bodice was pure and blank, with seemingly no decoration. But with a closer look, one could see small diamonds and pearls sparkling right where the skirt met the bodice.

The skirt poufed out just above where her baby bump began, hiding it completely from view. It was like a ballroom skirt, huge and fluffy, and it was much higher than the normal skirt so as to cover her enormous stomach (for she was now nine months pregnant, her due date being in 2 weeks).

Finally, Arthur looped off and went to stand by Harry after kissing Hermione on the cheek. She had reached her soon-to-be husband. There wasn't much to be said about him, other than her hormones were acting up and the only word to describe him at that point was HOT.

And possibly SEXY.

But those were the hormones talking. Not levelheaded Hermione.

She smiled at him, and he smiled back nervously as the Minister of Magic began his speech.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…"

Neither man nor woman was listening to a word that was being said. The two of them were too busy staring lovingly into each other's eyes.

Molly Weasley and Luna were weeping, Luna because she was pregnant as well and Molly because she was Molly. Neville could barely refrain from punching Harry on the shoulder as guys do.

At long last, the Minister said, "Do you, Hermione Jean Granger, take Harry James Potter to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

Tears shone in her eyes. "I do."

"Do you, Harry James Potter, take Hermione Jean Granger to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

He grinned like an idiot. "I do."

Teddy stealthily slipped the rings into his godfather's hand.

Harry lifted the ring to her hand and slipped it onto her finger. "With this ring, I thee wed, and with it, I bestow upon thee all the treasures of my mind, heart, and hands."

She raised her eyebrows at him, for never in her life had she heard him speak that way, but said nothing and just smiled.

"By the power vested in me by the British Wizarding World, I now pronounce you Man and Wife. You may kiss the bride."

These were the words that both parties couldn't wait any longer to hear, and this was evident when they practically leaped onto each other, their lips crashing together in one blissful kiss of passion and union and love.

* * *

The rest of the day was full of dancing, laughter, speeches, kissing, Teddy jumping into mud puddles (surprisingly, with Victoire) with no one yelling at him, and cake.

Mostly cake for the two pregnant women in attendance.

At last, it became dark, Hermione grew tired, and Harry decided they should head home so she could rest. They ran down through the crowd to the waiting car, which had cans tied to it and a banner reading "Just Married". (Harry didn't understand it all too well, but Hermione told him it was a muggle custom she had wanted.) The witches and wizards didn't throw rice, but they stood aside, forming a type of runway, lifted their wands and pronounced "Lumos!", their wands lighting up the couple as they rushed to the car.

Hermione started crying as they drove away, because of how beautiful it was.

Then Harry kissed her, and she forgot all about it.

* * *

The car took them all the way back to their house in Godric's Hollow. Paparazzi had trailed them the entire way until the driver of the car (a wizard, surprisingly enough) had enough and placed an invisibility spell on it so the photographers (and most likely Rita Skeeter somewhere) had to give up. They had decided against a honeymoon, because it was just too close to Hermione's due date to risk a vacation.

When they pulled up at their house, Harry gave the man quite a few Galleons in exchange for hiding them from the paparazzi, and then scooped up Hermione bridal-style and ran up the front path, carrying her the entire way. She laughed, a lovely sweet sound, and he did as well.

He carried her all the way upstairs, dropping her on the bed and jumping in next to her. "So?"

She turned to look at him. "So?"

He sent her a suggestive look.

"No!" she laughed. "You'd crush the baby!"

He pouted. "It's our wedding night!" he whined.

"You'll get it in a few weeks," she whispered softly in his ear. He groaned.

"Now you're just teasing me!"

She sat up, smiling. "Guilty."

"You get back here!" he exclaimed, and he put his arm around her waist and pulled her back down, ignoring her squeal of protest, and started to tickle her.

"Oh! Oh, STOP it, Harry-HAHAHAHA-I said STOP-HA! Merlin, I can't breathe!" she laughed.

* * *

It was the middle of the night. Hermione had woken up because Rosie was kicking an awful lot. But she hadn't wanted to wake Harry, so she tiptoed out and went to the nursery.

Hermione sat on the window seat and gazed at the entire room, rubbing her stomach. Her daughter would be in this room soon. She'd be sleeping in that crib. She'd be rocked in that rocking chair. She'd wear the clothes in that dresser. She'd read the books on that bookshelf.

When she was older, she'd sit right where Hermione was sitting and read or look out the window and think.

A tear of happiness rolled down her cheek just thinking about it.

This particular tear rolled all the way down to her chin, and fell off the edge. It plummeted down, down, down until it landed, PLOP, on her stomach.

Rosella felt it inside her mother's stomach.

Something shifted.

Hermione felt something wet trickle down her leg, a split second before she felt a horrible pain in her abdomen.

She sprang up, her mouth wide open.

It was happening.

"HARRY!"

* * *

OOOOOOOOHHHH!

I hope this satisfies your hungry fanfiction-reading eyes.

~justaclassicgirl


	13. Chapter 13: Rosella Juliet Potter

Well, here it is. This is the end of the road for "Lovesick or Something More". Thank you all so much for staying with me every step of the way, for staying through far-too-long hiatuses and depressing chapters. Thank you to my faithful followers, favoriters, and reviewers. This is my first completed multichapter story, and I hope to finish many more for this fandom in the future.

(P.S. Keep an eye out for the sequel to this: "A Different Sort of Life".)

And now, I give you:

The final chapter of "Lovesick or Something More":

"Rosella Juliet Potter".

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

"Come on, love, one more step, let's go…"

"Oh, Harry, let's just apparate already…AAAGHHH!"

Hermione doubled over as another contraction passed.

"But-"

"At this point, I could care less about splinching!" she screeched.

He sighed and took her arm. "Fine."

And with a pop, they were off to St. Mungo's.

* * *

They found themselves in the bustling lobby of the hospital. Harry rushed to the front desk, Hermione in tow, and shouted, "My wife's in labor!"

The nurse rushed out from behind the desk, conjured a wheelchair and helped Hermione into it. As she pushed her down the corridor, almost faster than Harry could keep up with, she asked, "Who's your obstetrician?"

"Her what?"

"Oh for Merlin's sake, Harry!" Hermione yelled, then let out another sound of pain before shouting, "It's Healer Lori!"

The nurse performed the patronus spell, and sent her cat patronus to find the healer. Then she pushed Hermione into a delivery room. Harry tried to follow, but she stopped him.

"I'll call you in when birthing begins, but she probably won't be dilated enough for a few hours."

"But can't I stay with her?" he pleaded.

"YOU NEED TO GET THE WEASLEYS!" he heard his wife shout from the depths of the delivery room. "AND LUNA AND NEVILLE!"

"But what about you?"

"Mr. Potter, I've TOLD you, she won't be ready to deliver for some time. Now go on, collect the family. Your wife will be quite safe with us."

So, reluctantly, Harry apparated out of the hospital. _To the Burrow,_ he thought. The Weasleys were first.

* * *

Molly was washing dishes (even at one in the morning…those children just wouldn't help with anything around here!) when she heard a loud POP from behind her. She whirled around, wand in hand, only to see her beloved "adoptive" son standing in front of her. He looked out of breath.

"Why Harry!" she smiled. "What brings you-"

"HERMIONE'S IN LABOR!" he shouted, loud enough for the whole house to hear.

Molly let out a wild scream, and accioed her coat from the coat rack. Ginny came tearing down the stairs, as did George, Percy, and all the rest of the Weasleys, who had been staying at the Burrow for the wedding and were going to head back to their respective homes soon. Everyone was still up, the wedding after-party having ended only 4 hour ago.

"Let's GO!" Molly yelled to her children. "Hermione's having the baby!"

Ginny was the first to apparate, followed by the rest in quick succession. But Mrs. Weasley made no move to do so herself.

"I have to get Arthur," she explained to Harry. "He's still at the Ministry."

"And I still have to get Luna and Neville," Harry replied.

Molly's eyes softened suddenly and filled with tears, and she wrapped him in a great big hug. "I'm so proud of you, Harry," she whispered.

He tried to hide his own tears as the woman he had considered his mother for half of his life embraced him. "I'll see you at the hospital then," he said, and broke away slightly.

"Oh. Yes, of course," she murmured.

Just as he was about to apparate, she said, "I'm truly sorry about Ron, dear."

And he heard a sadness in her voice he had never quite heard before, except when Fred had died. But he understood completely.

She had really lost two sons now.

"So am I," he whispered, and then the Burrow and Mrs. Weasley disappeared.

* * *

"Hermione!" Ginny cried, bursting into the delivery room. "Harry just popped in, said you were giving birth-"

Just then, Hermione let out an unearthly scream.

Ginny leaped about ten feet in the air.

Hermione looked up at the horrified Ginny and said, trying not to wince so much, "Contractions."

"Ah."

"Hurts like a bitch."

"I bet it does."

And then the two of them were laughing hysterically for seemingly no reason at all, and Hermione realized just how much she had missed this friendship.

* * *

Harry was a bit less coordinated this time and found himself standing on the roof of Luna and Neville's house.

He had to reapparate to a safer spot just in front of the door.

He banged on it with his fist. "Luna! Neville! Wake up!"

Neville came to the door, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "This better be good, Harry, the baby's been kicking nonstop and Luna's only just gotten to sleep-"

"HERMIONE'S IN LABOR!" he yelled. Oh, but his lungs were getting tired!

Neville's eyes widened in shock, and he heard a loud "WHAT?!" come from upstairs, followed by the sound of a pregnant woman clomping quite quickly down the stairs. He knew the sound; He'd only lived with it for the past six months.

"Neville, get our coats! We've got to GO!"

"You're apparating back, right?" Neville said.

Harry nodded. "I'd actually better get back now. Hermione'll have my head if I miss the birth."

"See you at the hospital, then, mate!" Neville exclaimed, and shut the door. And with a POP, Harry was gone.

* * *

Molly hustled into the delivery room. "Hermione, dear, are you all right? Can I get you anything?"

"Molly, it hurts," Hermione whined, but the whine soon tapered into a scream.

Mrs. Weasley turned on the nurse and shouted, "Well don't just STAND there, get the poor woman some ice!"

The nurse nodded meekly and hurried away.

"Now don't you worry, Hermione. I've been through this 6 times, so I know what I'm doing." (**A/N:** I know she had seven children, but because Fred and George were twins there was only one delivery for them, even though they were probably born at separate times.)

"Thanks Molly," Hermione managed out weakly.

Luna stumbled in at that point, holding one hand under her stomach. "Oh, Hermione! It's finally happening!"

Hermione grimaced with pain and gritted her teeth before answering, "Oh, you'll get yours soon."

Just then, the nurse stumbled in holding a cup of ice chips, and Molly took one and shoved it in Hermione's mouth. "Chew on this, dear, it'll help ease the pain."

As she started to chew, Harry burst in. "Did everyone get here all right?"

Hermione spit out the ice cube. It smashed against the wall into many tiny pieces. "It's about TIME you got here!" she yelled. "Where have you BEEN?!"

Molly beamed. "Oh, Hermione, you're not truly a mother until you say those words."

"I've suffered through this for TWO HOURS! And where were YOU?!"

Harry panted confusedly, "I was…getting the people you…asked me to…"

Ginny, Luna, and Molly snuck out of the room quietly to leave the couple to themselves.

Hermione suddenly started to cry, and Harry rushed to her side, feeling bad instantly.

"I'm s-s-sorry, Harry!" she wailed. "It just hurts SO MUCH!"

"No, no, I understand. Just try to breathe through it, okay?"

Just then, Healer Lori burst through the door, decked out in scrubs. "HELLO, Hermione!" she exclaimed happily.

She sat down in a nearby swivel-chair and rolled over to the foot of Hermione's bed. "Now, let's have a little look-see."

Harry shuddered.

"Oh, stop it! Clearly you've seen all this before," Healer Lori gestured to Hermione's…unmentionables, "since this is YOUR girlfriend who's pregnant!"

"Actually, we got married yesterday," Hermione commented, breathing heavily.

"Well CONGRATULATIONS, then!" Healer Lori piped, a huge smile on her face as she continued, "You're almost there. I'd give it 15 minutes, half an hour at the most before we start."

* * *

Harry stepped out of the delivery room. Hermione had told him to tell them that she was almost ready to deliver, so they wouldn't worry so much.

Instantly, a crowd surrounded him.

"How is she?"

"Is she giving birth yet?"

"What's happening?"

"Everyone, PLEASE!" he said loudly, getting dirty looks from some nurses, but ignoring them.

"She's fine. The healer said she's almost at ten centimeters, whatever that means."

Molly and Luna smiled knowingly, while Arthur and Neville cringed.

"Anyway, she's going to deliver soon, so it'll be a while before we come out."

"But when you do…" Ginny grinned.

"Yes, we'll have a daughter," he grinned back.

"HARRY!" came the shout. "HURRY!"

"You'd better go, dear," Molly said.

"Good luck, mate!" Neville said.

"Tell Hermione to stay strong!" Ginny said.

Arthur patted him on the back as Harry opened the door. "I don't envy you, boy. Done it 6 times and it never gets easier."

Harry shot him a panicked look at that before entering the delivery room.

* * *

"Okay, Hermione, you're ten centimeters. We're going to start. Now, when I say push, I need you to push. Hold onto Harry's hand if you need to," Healer Lori said.

Hermione grabbed his hand in an iron grip. Harry gulped.

"Push!"

"AGH!"

Harry almost screamed himself, as Hermione was grabbing his hand as if with pliers.

"Good…now wait…Push!"

"RRRAAAGH!"

"PUSH!"

Here, Hermione let out a stream of obscenities, many of which Harry didn't know she knew.

"Again!"

More curse words. Where had she learned so many?

"AGAIN! PUSH!"

Harry had given up the idea of ever feeling in his hand again.

"I can see the head! PUSH, Hermione!"

Hermione was panting hard.

"Just breathe, Hermione," he said, in his most soothing tone. "In, out. In, out."

"Heeeh-Hoooo. Heeeeeeeh-Hooooooo."

"PUSH! PUSH, DAMMIT! YOU'RE ALMOST THERE! ONE MORE!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHH HHHHHH!"

And in one final push, Hermione and Harry heard the most beautiful sound in the entire world:

A baby's cry.

* * *

Hermione fell back on the bed, utterly exhausted and dripping with sweat. Healer Lori held their daughter up so they could see her. Even though she was covered with odd dripping liquids, she was the most beautiful thing either of them had ever laid eyes on.

"Congratulations. It's a girl!"

With a wave of the Healer's wand, she was clean, and wrapped in a pink blanket. Healer Lori handed the baby to Hermione.

"Hi, sweetie," Hermione whispered. "You're so beautiful."

The baby squirmed and made small noises. Harry peered over his wife's shoulder at their daughter.

She had a bit of curly light brown fuzz on her head, looking to be the same color of her mother's. Her face was mostly her mother's too. But then, she opened her eyes quite wide and looked about.

Those eyes.

They were deep emerald green, exactly like her father's.

It was as if all of her father's soul was wrapped up inside them, everything that he'd been through, every moment of his life.

And here, here they now stood, looking at this child, this precious new life they had created together.

Healer Lori came back, holding a birth certificate. "Her name?"

And Hermione said, without once taking her eyes away from her daughter,

"Rosella Juliet Potter."


	14. Sequel? Find Out Here!

Hi everyone! This _**IS**_ **_NOT_** another chapter of LOSM. It's just a quick note to tell you all that the new sequel to this story has been posted. It's called "A Different Sort of Life" and will follow the couple as they adjust to being married and raising their daughter. If you enjoyed this story and wanted more, then I suggest you go and check it out right now. Kay?

See you there!

~justaclassicgirl


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